Starry Critters

Martian Millipedes

by CritterKeeper on Mar.02, 2010, under Bugs, birds and other animals

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Sand dunes resem­bling mil­li­pedes march across Mars in this image from the HiRISE cam­era aboard Mars Recon­nais­sance Orbiter.

Explore this area of Pas­teur Crater near the equa­tor. Dunes, knobs and ridges dom­i­nate the land­scape. Most of the dune ridges are par­al­lel lead­ing sci­en­tists to believe that ero­sion is dom­i­nated by wind. Wind blow­ing in the same direc­tion builds up sand, leav­ing par­al­lel waves of dunes that are per­pen­dic­u­lar to the wind direc­tion. Look for the star shaped dunes around some of the hills. Shift­ing winds cause these sand dunes to build up around obstructions.

You might also spot lay­er­ing. If sed­i­ment was deposited uni­formly over a wide area and then eroded, it might leave a pat­tern like this. Pos­si­ble causes are vol­ca­noes or even lake deposits. The dark patches are areas of bare sand or rock. Most sand on Mars is made up of the dark min­eral basalt. Most sand on Earth is made up of sil­ica, or tiny quartz crys­tals, that are light in color. Light col­ored, lighter sand cov­ers large areas of Mars giv­ing it a reddish-yellow appearance.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Digg!
:, , , ,

What do you see? Tell us your stories and let us know what you find!